Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work. Vince Lombardi

Oamaru Rotarians have been sorting books for weeks. Today we began the task of moving boxes of books from the hall where we’re they’ve been sorted and stored to the Loan and Merc building where we’ll be selling them.

It took a lot of lifting and carrying and it makes me very grateful for team work.

Like this:

Southland is believed to be the origin of where Mycoplasma bovis first took hold in New Zealand because this is where the earliest known cases of infection have so far been discovered, the Ministry for Primary Industries says.

This overturns an earlier theory that a South Canterbury farm belonging to the Van Leeuwen Dairy Group was the first farm to be infected.

While steps have been taken to trace and deal with cattle transported from the Van Leeuwen farm since July last year, controls on cows coming out of Southland have only been brought in much more recently. . .

The rural health workforce is at crisis point, with more than 40 percent of country doctors due to retire in the next five years.

So could the growing number of nurse practitioners, nurses who have taken extra training to be able to prescribe medicines and make diagnoses, provide a solution?

The nurses themselves say yes, but those working in rural health say there are some professional and bureaucratic hurdles which make it more difficult. . .

Need another reason to wear wool? One leading cause of microfibre pollution are synthetic textiles, contributing to 35% of microplastic pollution in waterways! NZM trying to reduce the issue, picking up plastic from our beaches. pic.twitter.com/uNxynp8rLa

Her particular passion is for the Ayrshire breed, continuing a long family history which started when her mother’s family — the Morton family — established the Ingleside stud in Southland in the 1940s.

The 29-year-old recently became an accredited junior judge for the breed, which meant she could judge at shows alongside a senior judge and, after a few shows, sit another paper to become a senior judge.

Miss Brown was brought up showing cattle and was leading calves when she was big enough to handle them. . .

Federated Farmers fears when the Kapiti Coast District Council says it is interested in equity and affordability, it only means equity and affordability for urban residential ratepayers.

Last week Federated Farmers’ representatives made a submission to the council’s draft Long Term Plan (LTP) hearing opposing a proposal to change from a flat rate to a property-value rate to fund roading.This will take the council further away from its stated aim of equity and affordability, says Federated Farmers Wairarapa president Jamie Falloon.

“This is pretty crude consultation when a huge impact like this is not discussed and considered with affected parties well before a hearing process for the LTP. This is a failing of many of the councils in our region.” . .

It may be hard to believe but ranching is the number-one land use in the state of California. I was surprised to learn this fact, and I’m certainly not alone.

This complex connection of California ranching to food production is a mystery for many. The public rarely understands the ecological benefits of livestock grazing, nor the tough economic returns, according to Sheila Barry, Livestock Advisor and Director of Santa Clara County for University of California Cooperative Extension.

“Working ranches occupy roughly 40 million acres in California,” says Barry. “Whether these working ranches are public land or privately owned, many ranchers represent the fourth or fifth generations stewarding the land and their livestock. The fact that the most prevalent land use in California goes largely unnoticed by much of the public puts ranching at risk.” . .

Another increase in fuel prices, the second in a week, this time led by Z, with all fuels up 4 cents per litre. This brings the ‘national’ price of 91 octane to $2.30/litre, the highest price ever recorded – in nominal terms that is; as we note below, we’ve paid much more in real terms when you adjust for inflation. Plus the tax on petrol has now broken through the $1/litre barrier. And all this before Auckland Council is due to introduce a 10cpl regional fuel tax in July, and the Government a 3-4cpl increase in petrol excise later this year.

Why have prices risen 23cpl in the last 2 months? International refined commodity prices have risen over 16% since the last price cut in February due mostly to geopolitics, while the NZ dollar has fallen nearly 5c against the US$.

Petrol tax is already more than $1 a litre. It will go up three to four cents for all of us later in the year and Aucklanders will face another 10 cent/litre tax from their council.

It’s hard enough accepting more than $1 in fuel tax when it was going on roads. It will be even harder to swallow when it’s going to be spent on public transport in Auckland.

The government has been telling us about how it’s helping the poor.

With fuel prices rising and tax on top of that, they will be giving with one hand and taking with the other.

Everything we buy is transported. If the fuel price rises so will everything else and that will fuel inflation and it’s always the poor who are hardest hit by that.

1947 Cold War: in an effort to fight the spread of Communism, U.S. President Harry S. Truman signed the Truman Doctrine granting $400 million in military and economic aid to Turkey and Greece, each battling an internal Communist movement.

1958 Sri Lankan riots of 1958: a watershed event in the race relationship of the various ethnic communities of Sri Lanka. The total number of deaths is estimated to be 300, mostly Sri Lankan Tamils.

2004 Hallam, Nebraska, was wiped out by a powerful F4 tornado (part of the May 2004 tornado outbreak sequence) that broke a width record at 2.5 miles (4.0 km) wide, and killed one resident.

2008 The Late-May 2008 tornado outbreak sequence unleashed 235 tornadoes, including an EF4 and an EF5 tornado, between 22 May and 31 May 2008. The tornadoes struck 19 US states and one Canadian province.